Next stop: HUTOPOLIS. Beijing Design Week

The scenario of urban transformation that is happening in Asia and China, offers a wide range of challenges to analyze: most of Chinese cities can be described as a field of urban, social and economic contrasts. The continuous process of destruction and construction of the cities often leave several unanswered questions related to quality of life in the new settlements, issues related to preservation, etc. “Hutopolis” is a research program that aims to investigate new boundaries for the urban development in China. The study intends to re-use and enhance the existing urban framework and networks as a key idea to generate a new evolution of the city. Meaning an utopic city of Hutongs, Hutopolis (h-uto-polis), is a fictive collage of words coming from radically different backgrounds that reflect the cultural openness of the project. China and Spain based firm “AQSO arquitectos office” organizes this exhibition curated by Giannantonio Bongiorno, with the support of a wide team of designers, architects, film makers and software developers. This investigation on the urban environment will be presented in the Beijing Design Week as a generative urban game for the people to interact, understand and create an imaginary city map based on the Beijing’s “Hutongs”. The exhibition will be the starting point of this experimental research program that in later stages will also involve universities and students to experiment with the urban condition of Beijing and other Asian cities. www.hutopolis.info